Author's Note: This is a Ryunosuke/Chiaki story. In this story, they are already a couple. Plus the rest of the team is unaware of their relationship. Maybe I'll write another one about them, where it shows how they got together (at least in my eyes, there's only a thousand viewpoints on that idea). This takes place during Episode 39, so beware of spoilers… I guess… There really isn't anything in this episode that I think gives away anything. This story idea came from what I believed should've happened during the episode, when Chiaki had the ashes thrown on him. Please read and review. No flames too!

Chapter 1:

Ryunosuke heaved out a mix of salt water and what appeared to be some bits of his breakfast from this morning, as he started to regain consciousness. He groaned as his eyes slowly opened, immediately cringing from the harsh light peeking through the trees. Taking a deep breath, the blue samurai tried to calm the immense throbbing in his head, taking several long, deep breathes so that he could slowly recompose himself. After he felt less nauseous and less like his head was about to explode like a firecracker, Ryunosuke decided to evaluate his surroundings and figure out where he was.

The calm river flowed behind the blue samurai's body, as he lied completely exhausted on the edge of the riverbed. Kotoha was lying not too far, still drenched and unconscious. The yellow samurai looked like she took a considerable amount of damage from their fight with Dayu. She had several nasty bruises on her arms and legs, and a small cut on her cheek, but thankfully nothing too serious. As for Ryunosuke he was basically in the same state as her. The only difference was a split lip and a few cuts on his back. However, it could've been much worse, and Ryunosuke was grateful that the two of them at least made it out of the fight in one piece. He continued his gaze along the trees surrounding them, and once he finished his surveillance let out a long held sigh. A frown painted his face as he took in the unfittingly peaceful scene around them.

Slowly the blue samurai sat up, his muscles screaming in protest. He clenched his stomach as a wave of nausea swept over him. Taking a moment to regain himself, Ryunosuke slowly crawled over to Kotoha. Once he was by her side he quickly started to shake her shoulder.

"Kotoha," Ryunosuke whispered, "Kotoha, wake up."

A tiny groan escaped the young girl's body, as she slowly opened her soft brown eyes. She let out several harsh coughs as she started to sit up. The blue samurai putting a hand on her back to ensure that she was alright.

"Thank goodness you're alright! Are you okay?"

Ryunosuke let out a sigh of relief as the yellow samurai gave him a nod and smiled back at him.

"Yes, I am fine. Are you?" She replied.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We got washed up on the riverbed here. We were pretty lucky that we survived that battle with only minor injuries. I've never seen Dayu fight with that kind of power. I'm surprised she didn't finish us off."

Kotoha nodded, but placed a comforting hand on the blue samurai's shoulder.

"Well, we're okay, and that's what's most important. Right?"

"Right!"

Ryunosuke took another quick look around, before he looked back at the young girl.

"Do you know where our Shodo Phone's are?" He asked. Kotoha gazed around as well, and discovered the small devices scattered on the ground. The two crawled over and grabbed their Shodo Phone's, quickly checking over them to make sure that they did not break from the fight. Once it was confirmed that the devices did not receive any damage the next task was introduced.

"We should contact the others," Ryunosuke said. Kotoha nodded as he started furiously punching in the numbers to contact their Lord.

"Tono, Tono are you there? Tono?!"

The ringing continued, far too long, until there was nothing but silence on the other end of the line. Ryunosuke and Kotoha looked at each other, fearing that something terrible had happened to their Lord.

"Mako-chan was with him, right?" The young girl asked. Ryunosuke nodded and quickly dialed the number for Mako.

"Mako, Mako are you there? Mako!"

The endless ringing seemed to be dawning on the two samurais once again. Both were starting to grow very worried about their comrades. Then, suddenly a familiar voice answered.

"Ryunosuke, is that you?" The two couldn't stop their smiles as the chilling fear melted from their bodies.

"Yes, it's me. Kotoha and I were calling to check on you and Tono. Are you guys alright? Is Tono alright? We tried calling him before and he didn't answer?"

"Yes, we are both fine. Takeru is fine too. He's just not in the best of moods right now. Perhaps that explains why he didn't answer your call."

There was a mix of relief and concern in Ryunosuke as he absorbed the information. Their Lord was alright, however; he was upset. Although Ryunosuke wanted to figure out what was wrong with his Tono he knew better then to push himself too far into his business, at least, for now. Kotoha grabbed the Shodo Phone from Ryunosuke and hesitantly spoke to the pink samurai.

"Mako-chan, have you heard from Chiaki and Genta?"

Ryunosuke's chest tightened as he membered that his boyfriend and the crazy gold samurai were off on their own, somewhere on the island. He quickly grabbed his Shodo Phone back from Kotoha and started screaming mindlessly into the small device.

"Mako have you heard from Chiaki? Is he alright? Where is he? Has he called you guys while we were out? He didn't call us. Oh my god what if something happened to him! What if he got attacked by the villagers? What if they are beating him with no mercy? What is they threw him off some cliff, or drowned him in the ocean, or -"

"Ryunosuke!" The pink samurai screamed. The blue samurai bit his lip as he let his comrade have a chance to speak.

"Ryunosuke, calm down. I know you're worried, but I assure you screaming in my ear will not solve anything… and, no. I haven't heard from Chiaki or Genta. It's been awhile since they've checked in, now that I think about it."

Ryunosuke gasped, his palms clenching the ends of his blue shirt in concern. Chiaki, his dear boyfriend, might be in danger. He could be hurt, crying, bleeding, dying, or worse…all the above! There was no time to waste. Before Kotoha could get a chance to speak to the pink samurai Ryunosuke eagerly replied.

"We'll find them. You and Tono continue on. We'll all meet up with you as soon as we can."

"Okay, I'll send you guys the coordinates of the last place they contacted me at. Be careful and call me if anything happens," replied Mako, and with that she hung up and left Ryunosuke and Kotoha to fulfill their mission.

Ryunosuke stood up firmly, his muscles screaming as they twisted in protest. But, the blue samurai ignored the pain, refusing it to keep him from reaching his loved one. He needed to find Chiaki, hold him in his arms and refuse to let go until he was positive that he was safe. This crazy, bloody thirty island was not going to stop him from reaching him. Meanwhile, Kotoha was staring at Ryunosuke with a confused, but concerned look on her face. She sighed as she carefully picked herself up off the ground, taking a moment to make sure that her legs would allow her to hold the position. Once both samurais were standing, Ryunosuke kept his gaze on the woods as he spoke in a deep voice.

"Kotoha, let's go!"

Kotoha was startled; she never heard the blue samurai voice sound so serious before. It didn't sound like his voice at all.

Ryunosuke mentally slapped himself as he realized that he startled the yellow samurai. He didn't mean to come off so intense. He couldn't help it though. His boyfriend was in danger. Chiaki was literally his world, and he couldn't live with himself is something happened to him, while he could've done something to prevent it. Ryunosuke smacked himself one more time before he looked back at the yellow samurai.

"Sorry Kotoha… I didn't mean to…"

The young girl shook her head.

"No it's fine Ryunosuke, don't worry."

The older boy sighed and nodded. Then, looking back at the woods, he started sprinting towards Chiaki and Genta's last location. The yellow samurai quickly followed close behind.

The two samurai dashed through the forest. Although the land was covered in uneven terrain, rocks, and fallen trees Ryunosuke was gaining incredible speed. Kotoha was shocked seeing her friend racing with swiftness that she didn't know he possessed. She struggled to keep up with him as they made their way out of the forest, and approached their destination.

'Chiaki, I coming!'

Please read and review! Arigatou!